City envisions cleaner, greener future

By Stephanie Prokop, Staff Writer
   BORDENTOWN CITY—Imagine, for a second, the Bordentown City of the future: solar panels on the city hall building and tidal energy generators off the shore of Bordentown Beach.
   The city may even be a bustling transit village, serving as a satellite of a vibrant Trenton hub.
   These ideas are not part of a science fiction novel, but rather a vision Bordentonians discussed after viewing the documentary, “The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream” on Tuesday night at the Carslake Community Center on Crosswicks Street.
   The documentary, written and directed by Gregory Greene, spelled out a worst-case scenario if Americans (as well as those around the globe) keep chugging fossil fuels.
   Although largely cynical in tone, the film did explore some hopeful alternatives to the drive-your-car-everywhere suburbia that has been the norm of the last half-century for approximately half of Americans.
   Led by Mike Hunninghake, chair of the Bordentown City Environmental Commission (which sponsored the event), approximately two dozen residents discussed initiatives and proposed challenges to the residents of the city on how they too can become key players in reducing their energy consumption.
   One challenge that the city is currently grappling with is how to reduce energy consumption.
   After the film, residents were given pledge cards to “help to change the world, one Energy Star light at a time.”
   According to Mr. Hunninghake, the pledge is a simple (and relatively inexpensive) way to reduce energy consumption.
   The challenge is currently asking 200 Bordentown City residents to change five of their traditional incandescent light bulbs to compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs). The CFLs, which cost slightly more, last an average of seven years, and over the course of the light bulb’s life, it could save the homeowner approximately $185 over the lifetime of the bulb on his energy bill.
   If all virtually all 4,000 Bordentown City residents installed five CFLs in place of their regular lightbulbs, the city would be saving the atmosphere from nearly 2,400 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, which would be the equivalent of taking 1,800 cars off of the road each year.
   The light bulbs are easily found in any store, and now more varieties are becoming readily available, such as CFLs that fit into smaller spaces and bulbs that have “dimmer” capabilities.
   Because CFLs do contain trace amounts of mercury, users should look for special receptacles in which to dispose of them properly.
   The second part of the challenge encouraged Bordentown City residents to purchase clean power, which can be added to their monthly electric bills.
   The New Jersey CleanPower Choice Program is a statewide program that allows users to choose clean, renewable means of energy, such has wind power, hydro-electric power, solar power or landfill gas power.
   Buyers can buy clean energy from the Community Energy, Inc., Green Mountain Energy Company, Jersey-Atlantic Wind, LLC, Sterling Planet, Inc., for amounts ranging on average from $4 to $9 a month in addition to their regular bills.
   In the meantime, Bordentown City has established what Mr. Hunninghake referred to as “good bones” — units of infrastructure that enable the community to support local initiatives.
   This includes the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) that enables residents to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables in the summer months, as well as visiting the spring/summer and fall Bordentown City Farmers Market.
   The community is also embracing conservation policy, with modern sustainable changes being currently added to the Master Plan, as well as new zoning ordinances that will allow a more residents to live, work and play in the city. There are now about 4,000 residents in the city which in the 1950s housed nearly 6,000 residents comfortably.
   Residents of Bordentown City who are interested in joining either one of both of these challenges are encourage to sign up by getting details at the Bordentown City Environmental Commission’s Web site, www.bcec.us.